Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Mr. Swanstrum. Ladies and gentlemen, I am Jeff Swanstrum, I am a fourth-generation Idahoan. My statement on opening, I have a history and heritage of what wilderness is to this State. A natu ral environment used to guide our everyday actions. No more. Our society seems obsessed with cars, roads, cities, and cultures. The White Clouds, the Boulder Mountains, the Payette Crest, these endangered wilderness core areas are what brings back the sparkle and clarity of a vision to me. Perhaps the same vision of an early American. Don't forget, this wilderness is our heritage, something uniquely American. Personally, I can't divorce myself from this pristine wil derness environment. I believe it is unhealthy for society to do so as well. By using up that unroaded landscape we undermine what keeps our spirits free. We destroy the scale by which we measure progress. We muddy our American heritage. Walking the sagebrush hills of the East Fork of the Salmon, the meandering creek, meadows of Little Boulder Creek, the alpine crests of the White Clouds and the Payette Crest, we take a jour ney back to our roots as a man within his environment as opposed to a man away from his environment. I've also hiked to the top of an open-pit mine. I've choked from the smell of diesel pouring from the earth movers. Mud and clay poured down former creek beds. I was humbled by the hand of man. I don't want that stink in the White Clouds. I don't want any pocket of what's left of unroaded Idaho. I want to see this as wil derness as my great-grandfather saw it and that my grandchildren can see it as well. I would further support forthcoming boundaries and acreages proposed by the Idaho Conservation League. Thank you.